3 cups oak or pecan wood chips, or 6 big chunks, soaked in cold water for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours

2 cups apple juice (in a spray bottle)

Directions

Put the canola oil and bacon in a medium cast-iron or enamel coated cast-iron Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook until crisp. Add the carrots and onions to the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, about 1 minute. Add the beans, barbecue sauce, 1 cup stock, honey and brown sugar and mix gently to combine; season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer, about 20 minutes. Check to see if the mixture is dry, and if it is, add a little more stock. Continue simmering until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in the burnt ends. Garnish the top with the parsley and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Mesa Barbecue Sauce:

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and sweat the onion and garlic until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer 20 minutes.

Puree the mixture in a food processor, pour into a bowl, and let cool at room temperature. May be refrigerated up to 1 week or frozen.

Smoked, Spice Rubbed, Texas-Style Brisket:

Mix together all the spices in a bowl. Liberally rub the entire brisket with the spices, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours. Remove the brisket from the refrigerator 1 hour before beginning the smoking process to take the chill off, and remove the plastic wrap.

Get your smoker running at 225 degrees F with hardwood charcoal and a few handfuls of soaked wood chips. This temperature should be maintained throughout the entire smoke. (If you are using a grill: Set up the grill for indirect heat, banking the coals on one side of the grill and scattering the wood chips on top. Maintain the temperature at 225 degrees throughout the smoking process, adding chips as necessary until you wrap the brisket in foil.)

Place the brisket fat-side up on your smoker grate and close it up for the long smoke.

Open your barbecue smoker every hour or 2 and spray the brisket liberally with apple juice to help keep the meat from drying out. Also keep apple juice in the water pan if you are using a water smoker.

When the internal temperature reaches 165 to 170 degrees, after about 4 hours, wrap the brisket in aluminum foil and continue to cook for another 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours. This little trick is a big help in getting the meat tender, especially for beginners. Figure that a brisket smoked at around 200 degrees will take about 1 1/2 hours per pound. The brisket is done when the internal temperature reaches 185 degrees F. Remove and let rest 20 minutes before slicing. Remove the foil from the brisket over a large pan or disposable pan and reserve the liquid. Cut off the brisket points and reserve for another use.